Today we have some superb news for our community members, whether you are a developer or contributing to Sailfish OS in some other way!

We have just started to take registrations to the new Sailfish Community Device Program. The Program is meant for all who want to be in the frontline advocating or developing the Sailfish OS platform and a more open future. By joining the Program you get access to exclusive live community sessions, have a chance to get invitations to community events, and you also get the just announced Sailfish OS community smartphone Jolla C.

All Program members will get the new Jolla C device during July, and will start to receive invitations to live online community sessions after the Finnish summer holiday season. A limited group of first registrants will also get an invitation to our International Sailfish Community Event in Helsinki, June 17, 2016, where you can attend Sailfish-related workshops and enjoy hanging out with fellow sailors!

Jolla C is the first ever Sailfish OS community device, with a limited 1,000 units available for our developer and fan community. It is expected to ship in July 2016. Jolla C is used by Jolla developers and community members, and its users will naturally get all the latest vanilla Sailfish OS releases. Selected Jolla C users will be also invited to test Beta OS releases. With a quad-core Snapdragon™ processor, 2 GB memory, beautiful 5” HD display and dual SIM, the Jolla C works beautifully with Sailfish OS. You will get to keep the device for yourself after the Program. As a community device, Jolla C and any accompanying material are provided as is and without any warranties. Read more in the [url=]terms and conditions[/url].

ACCESS TO SUPPORT SESSIONS AND MATERIAL

Take part in exclusive Jolla C specific developer support online sessions led by the Jolla R&D, design and product chiefs. As a program member and Jolla C owner you are also eligible for device specific support materials.

INVITATIONS TO COMMUNITY EVENTS

Be among the first program members and get an invitation to the International Sailfish Community Event on June 17 of June 2016 in Helsinki. We aim to arrange also other community events during the Program, and you will have a chance to get invitations to these.

AVAILABLE NOW, RUNS UNTIL MAY 2017

The Sailfish Community Device Program runs until the end of May 2017. It’s open for both developers and enthusiastic community members worldwide who support Sailfish OS by developing or advocating the platform. Due to certifications and other requirements, Jolla C device can be shipped to EU countries, Norway and Switzerland only. No code or other contributions are required. Limited 1,000 places are available.
Jolla C assembly already started – expected shipping in July

The assembly of the new community device Jolla C started today – here are some fresh images from the factory. Jolla C is expected to ship in July 2016 for all the program participants, and the ones lucky to be invited to the Community Event in Helsinki on June 17, will get their device already there.

We hope to see you as a Program participant! And better be quick, there’s only a limited amount of places available!

On one hand I'm still satisfied with my Jolla and don't feel the need for a new one, but on the other hand it's somewhat appealing to me despite the bigger size.

I'd love to support Jolla to survive and thus this would be the reason to buy one, but is it really worth EUR 170,- (I mean, that's a fantastic cheap price for such kind of phone).

I will think about it, but maybe it's to late in a few days. I don't think it's needed by Jolla to have that program last until May 2017. I guess all the enthusiast will have bought all those 1000 units until the end of May this year

But I also thought the other way around: would I be willing to just donate EUR 170,- for future development? Probably not. So maybe I should just wait and buy a new device when really in need for one.

Jolla should opt for a Cyanogen/CyanogenMod approach if they intend to create a community based distribution model. By having SF fully compatible with Android hardware, they would be able to select models such as the Nexus line-up but also other devices and build the OS for them.

It works really well for CM and SF could be something similar. Such a solution could also be interesting for HMD with their upcoming "Nokia" devices. By providing SF builds for them it would be possible to get a "Nokia SF" device.

It is very important to start supporting native apps, though and also stimulate the creation of "custom SF ROMs" in the same way as different groups are building CM based dittos such as AICP and PAC. Such an approach would also increase the awareness of the platform and stimulate commercial shipments.

It is worth to look at the size of CM and affiliated ROMs to see that community supplied systems can be successful.

Based on open source and amazing community, Sailfish OS is a fully customizable and people powered platform. The new Sailfish Community Device Program is for all who want to be in the frontline advocating or developing the platform and a more open future. The Program participants will get a limited edition Jolla C community device and can participate in online support sessions hosted by the Jolla R&D, product and design chiefs. First Program participants will be also invited to the International Sailfish Community Event on 17th June in Helsinki, Finland.

2. Who is eligible to participate in it? Why?

The Program is open for both developers and enthusiastic community members worldwide who support Sailfish OS by developing or advocating the platform. No code or other contributions are required. Due to certifications and other requirements, Jolla C device can be shipped to EU countries, Norway and Switzerland only. We are working to make device shipments possible also to other key regions.

3. If I want to participate how do I do it?

Please join the Program via Jolla Shop. We can only take limited amount of participants to the Program, so act quickly!

4. Why does the Program cost money? Some competitors offer developer programs for free.

As much as we would like to offer the Program for free, our current financial situation doesn’t allow this. However, we have pushed the Program fee as low as we could to keep the Program fairly priced for our community. Jolla is not making any profit with this price.

5. Why doesn’t the Jolla C device have normal warranty? What are the terms?

The Program and Jolla C device are not meant for general sale and are targeted to software community and developers. To be able to offer the Jolla C or any kind of device to our community, we have had to do some compromises, and warranty service is the biggest of them. Providing a commercial-level warranty service for a device requires large operations, which we as a software company are not focused on. However, we aim to support all Program participants through developer-care@jolla.com with any issues the participants face with the Program or Jolla C device.

6. If the device does not work properly or it breaks clearly because of production issues, can I return it?

In case of a faulty product, you can return the product for a refund in accordance with and pursuant to Return Policy within 14 days from receiving the product. Please note that this term does not apply to exchanges or to product which develops a fault after you receive it. The product and any accompanying material are not meant for general sale and are targeted to software community and developers only. The product and any accompanying material are provided as is and without any warranties, express or implied.

7. If I’m not satisfied with the purchase can I return it and get a refund?

In case of a faulty product, you can return the product for a refund in accordance with and pursuant to Return Policy within 14 days from receiving the product. Please note that this term does not apply to exchanges or to product which develops a fault after you receive it. The product and any accompanying material are not meant for general sale and are targeted to software community and developers only. The product and any accompanying material are provided as is and without any warranties, express or implied.

8. Can I purchase several program participations (and Jolla C devices) if I want to?

One person can participate to the program only once.

9. I didn’t manage to get in, but would be interested in the developer sessions. Can I access those and how?

The online support sessions are limited only for the Program participants. However, we aim to record the sessions and make the recordings available for everyone after the sessions, including non-program participants.

10. I live in a non-supported country, can I join the Program anyway?

The Program is open for both developers and enthusiastic community members who support Sailfish OS by developing or advocating the platform. Due to certifications and other requirements, Jolla C device can be shipped to EU countries, Norway and Switzerland only. We are working to make device shipments possible also to other key regions. Please send your email address to community@jolla.com to be notified if there will be more Program participations available.

11. How can I be sure that you will deliver the Jolla C device, given the challenges with the tablet project?

The Sailfish Community Program differs significantly from the tablet project. Planning of the support sessions and the International Sailfish Community Event are well underway, and the Jolla C device is ready for production from hardware, software and production point of view. Production of the devices has already started and is expected to finish by the end of May 2016. After production, we move to the fulfillment phase. We expect all program participants to have their Jolla C device in July 2016 the latest. We will update progress of the device deliveries as we go through the Jolla Blog.

12. How many Program participations there are available? Will you make more participations available later?

Amount of program participants is limited to 1,000 and participants can join on first come, first served basis. One person can join the program only once.No further batches are planned for now. However, if there’s significantly more demand than supply and if we are able to serve further Program participants, we will reconsider the situation.

13. How long does the Program last?

The Program participation is valid until the end of May 2017, with online support sessions running throughout the Program. Program participants will get to keep the Jolla C device after the Program.

I remember very well how I already bought one phone of theirs in 2013, i.e. 2.5 years ago. They were promising great development support. I spent over 400 Euros on it, solely to be able to develop applications for Sailfish OS. We all know very well how it ended up: numerous ported apps sitting exclusively on my very own Jolla for 2 years, as there's no place to sell them.

So now I am asking myself why should I risk spending money once again on another phone of theirs. Once again they say that through this community program they want to encourage software development (weren't they saying the same in 2013?), but do they really do anything else in this regard EXCEPT FOR SELLING A NEW DEVICE?

I mean, the SDK is just as beta as it's been over the past 3 years, and there is still no place to sell any Sailfish OS applications. Moreover, they don't even promise any change in this regard.

So what am I actually getting for those 170 Euros? JUST another SFOS device, and nothing else? No finished and complete SDK, no place to sell apps? So what do I need this device for? To develop for myself? Because they don't even promise any changes in regards to being able to sell SFOS applications.

So WHOM are they actually trying to attract and encourage? EXISTING geeks? Or any serious, new developers? Will any of the latter spend 170 Euros on an exotic OS without any possibilities to sell their apps? They won't, obviously.

Not to mention, that the first and only email about this I got from them was today, an hour ago, telling me that such a program was announced yesterday and already SOLD OUT. I entered their store and indeed it is sold out and no longer available for now. So even if I wanted to get this device, Jolla fanboys already bought all of them and nothing remained for actual DEVELOPERS. So much for a developer program sold out to regular users who just wanted a new phone. This brings back the question whether (by making this program available to normal users) Jolla really wanted to attract any new developers or just QUICKLY SELL some phones to literally anyone. This is just as PATHETIC as it only can be. Isn't it?

P.S. Oh, and one more thing. They say: "As much as we would like to offer the Program for free, our current financial situation doesn’t allow this." Sh*t, I'm getting SERIOUSLY SICK of hearing for 3 years about their "financial situation". Open the God damned app store, start earning on selling people's apps and stop whining! It will finance such community programs WITH SURPLUS.

Sailfish Community Device Program sells out during launch day, see press release (PDF):

Quote:

Jolla announces Sailfish Community Device Program and sells out during launch day

Helsinki, Finland, May 27, 2016 - Jolla Ltd., the Finnish mobile company and developer of open mobile operating system Sailfish OS, announced yesterday the Sailfish Community Device Program initiative. The program, crafted for Sailfish community developers and fans, includes also a new Sailfish OS device, the Jolla C smartphone. The program was sold out during the day of the announcement.

Sailfish Community Device Program is a new initiative by Jolla, crafted to boost the Sailfish community by activating and empowering developers and fans around the world. The program got fully booked already at the first day of the announcement.

Sami Pienimäki, Co-founder of Jolla comments: “An active developer and fan community has always been a core part of Sailfish OS, and we want to thank all our fans for their passion and support throughout the years. The program was sold out quickly after the launch, which is a strong message of the willingness to change the world together. As the Sailfish OS licensing is expanding, the role of an active community gets even bigger. We are now investigating if we can extend the program beyond this.”

Jolla C limited edition community smartphone

Included in the program is the Jolla C, the first ever Sailfish OS community device, with a limited 1,000 units available for the developer and fan community. Jolla C is currently being assembled and will ship for the program members in July 2016. The program members will get all the latest Sailfish OS releases, and they may opt-in also to test future Beta OS releases.

The program members will get access to exclusive Sailfish OS developer sessions led by the Jolla expert teams. A selected group of first program members will also get an invitation to the International Sailfish Community Event on June 17, 2016 in Helsinki. Further community events will be arranged throughout the program.

Program runs until May 2017, Jolla C to ship in July
The Sailfish Community Device Program runs until the end of May 2017, and is meant for all developers and enthusiastic Sailfish fans that wish to support Sailfish OS by developing or advocating the platform. Due to certifications and other requirements, Jolla C device can be initially shipped to EU countries, Norway and Switzerland only.

The Jolla C smartphone is currently being assembled and it will ship to all program members in July 2016.

You don't believe there are 1000 Sailfish OS developers who instantly rushed and bought all available units, do you? Or else, there would be thousands of native apps.

So who bought the phones? Mostly regular users. No devices left for actual developers. Especially for any NEW ones who might come to the platform. There was no time for the information about this offer to reach any such people.

Developer program, my ass. Just another pre-order campaign IN DISGUISE to quickly collect some cash. In one day they earned back what a few days earlier they had to return for the tablets.

If they really cared about this program to encourage software development, it would be reserved for developers only. The way it is, it's just a regular sale, not bringing to the platform a single new developer.

Congratulations Jolla, you didn't give me even just 1 minute to decide.

Since the Jolla C device comes with dual SIM, it is a rebranded Intex Aqua Fish smartphone with only Sailfish OS and no third party apps. The Intex Aqua Fish smartphone will only sell in India for the time being. So this is Jolla's way to get some devices to Europe.

Since the device program runs for one year and the batch of 1000 units already has sold out, I would not be surprised if we soon are going to see a second batch available for purchase. This will most likely happen after the first batch has been successfully delivered to users.

From today's press release:

Quote:

Sami Pienimäki, Co-founder of Jolla comments: “An active developer and fan community has always been a core part of Sailfish OS, and we want to thank all our fans for their passion and support throughout the years. The program was sold out quickly after the launch, which is a strong message of the willingness to change the world together. As the Sailfish OS licensing is expanding, the role of an active community gets even bigger. We are now investigating if we can extend the program beyond this.”

I do not question the role of an active fan community. It is very important. It is what I tried to do when looking for a good contact with Jolla back in 2012 and 2013 (when this site still had thousands of visits daily), offering them to run a popular, hiqh quality community website.... and not finding absolutely any interest of theirs.

What I do question is their true goals. If they really cared about software development, they'd certainly first of all finally do something about software development itself. I bet that they aren't idiots and they know very well that without finally releasing a fully polished and complete SDK, and - most of all - without providing ANY possibilities for developers to monetize their apps, they will not attract any new developers, and it will remain just a small group of geeks developing for fun, forever. If they don't do anything in this regard, it simply means that it is absolutely not of their interest, just like it has never been.

Just think about those 3,5 years and try to find ANY real efforts of theirs aimed at developers. A SINGLE effort to attract any new developers to the platform and encourage and intensify development of native applications. I'm afraid that you won't find ANY such efforts.

And also this time, they don't seem to care at all that this device really reaches true developers and finally starts bringing native applications to the platform. Or even that this device reaches actual active community members, i.e. e.g. those who run websites about Jolla, and in exchange for getting this device will actively promote the brand and the OS.

No, they made it available to ANYONE, which caused that MAJORITY of them were instantly bought by REGULAR USERS who simply looked for an upgrade for their aging Jolla phone, before developers could even learn that such an offer exists. There's only one reasonable explanation for this: to sell everything as quickly as possible and simply earn cash.

So it is simply a REGULAR SALE, just disguised as a "developer program" because the device is not certified, not warrantied, and comes without any 3rd party content to reduce its cost and any required licencing. Such a tricky way to sell some devices without all the burden that fully commercial devices would require by law. Absolutely no real intentions to reach any true developers and really stimulate development of native software. Of which absolutely no other efforts (SDK, app monetizing) or reserving even just some part of the batch for actual developers, is the best proof.

Whenever they have some new batch of such redunant units from the production of Intex Aqua Fish, they'll offer it through this "developer program" (so that they don't have to certify them, be bound by any warranties, etc.) the same way as now, earn some cash, and that's it. The SDK will remain beta, and there still won't be any place to sell apps.

.... and I actually wouldn't mind this kind of sale at all, because I understand that they regularly need to sell something to stay alive -- if they only weren't doing it by once again MISLEADING developers, i.e. once again kind of promising them something that they DON'T INTEND to deliver - any real native software development and distribution opportunities on this platform.

I think it is time for someone (a company or a community) with a clue to simply fork Sailfish - i.e. taking everything that is open source and then create a proper system.

A system with a proper app store and developer support based on Sailfish and optimized for Android compatible hardware (i.e. Android drivers) is needed. It seems like Jolla is killing their own platform - it feels like a repetition of when Nokia mismanaged Maemo and treated the Internet Tablets as some kind of toy.

It seems like Jolla managed to get the same management as those who cancelled Hildon and gave the world such a masterpiece as the N97, while cancelling the Communicator, unfortunately.

Would it be realistic to simply fork SF and build a properly supported system or are their copyright issues/closed source involved to such an extent that it create too many obstacles?

Jolla keeps developing the OS - it does get better and better, no question about it. But at the same time they stubbornly restrict its reach - for nearly three years its marketshare or its developer community haven't grown almost at all.

They behave as if just enough money to barely keep them alive and be able to still have fun further developing the OS was all they need. Whenever they start running out of money, they do something like the tablet campaign or this recent "developer program" to quickly collect some funds and then they're happy again (doing nothing else to make this OS and its ecosystem grow) for another 6 months or so. And then the story repeats.

I can't sense a trace of any perspective thinking. Almost 3 years after launch of the Jolla phone there's still no proper SDK, the Harbor store is a mess with completely useless Android junk and a handful of native apps that one can find (and much more) at the Warehouse anyway, no support for paid apps and not even a word about any serious plans to ever introduce it, and so on. THREE YEARS! It's like an epoch.

And on top of that "developer programs" like this one, where developers don't even manage to enter the store before all units get sold out to regular users hungry for an upgrade for their aged Jolla, as it is clearly just about selling that batch of phones as quickly as possible, and not about attracting or supporting any real developers.

So YES, I'm afraid that it really takes someone else to take good care about marketing and promotion of this OS. THREE YEARS is enough to become certain that Jolla will NOT do it, as they clearly don't even intend to.

---

I complain because these people really make me angry. It's such a nice OS that I would just LOVE to make my apps available for, and these people stubbornly prevent it, for THREE YEARS now. And whenever I finally get used to this fact and reconcile myself to it, they come up with such annoying things as this so-called "developer program" that turns out to be nothing but an ordinary pre-sale instantly taken advantage of by regular users so that within just a few hours there's no single device left for actual developers (as no one bothered to reserve even just a small part of units for them), which only annoys and discourages all those who might want to develop for this OS even more. How can ANY new developer come to this platform if all (allegedly) developer devices got bought by normal users before any such new developer could even learn about such offer?

Oh, and remind yourself how a year ago they promised to do something about supporting paid apps, then went completely silent for many months, only to eventually add a stupid "Donate" option to the store, which probably took them an hour, if not less. And that's while "Support for paid apps" has been the fifth or sixth (out of well over 10,000) most voted for request on TJC for years, without a single comment from Jolla since early 2015.

This is ridiculous. Or maybe it isn't - it's actually very sad. Another great OS deprived of any chances for commercial success by its own maker.

If such a thing could happen, then the best solution would to just start building an "SF Community Port" similar to Cyanogen is doing with Android and substitute the Harbour with a new proper app store.

I am still wondering if there are any "secret" agreements with an external partner such as Nokia about just polishing SF to a specific level and then provide it for shipment, thus making everything so far early "prototypes" rather than something they want to have a broad appeal at this time. It doesn't make any particular sense to just develop the system without proper promotion if the intention is to reach any kind of commercial success.

Somehow, I have the nagging feeling that something is holding Jolla back as it seems, i.e. they aren't supposed to do anything more than they are doing due to some kind of agreement with someone.

The background story of Jolla make me still think that people within Nokia that were opposed to the WP drama have been working silently with the company on the idea of developing SF without commercial appeal in order to enter a licensing agreement or something about shipping it on future devices. The upcoming HMD "Nokia" devices could be an obvious target and getting it up and running on "Android hardware" should be a straightforward task.

The Jolla C could be a way of trying out newer drivers and so forth in order to test a possible configuration for shipping on Android compatible hardware.

This could also explain the resistance against commercial apps since I would guess that a future partner will build a dedicated app store (a revival of the Ovi Store perhaps).

It would be logical to develop SF images for the upcoming HMD/Nokia devices and ship versions with the system. The more I look at it, the more probable it seems that SF is just in a "development stage" and that the "go to market" partner will be a manufacturer when the right time comes.

Since I think that Meltemi was an attempt to keep Harmattan alive, it wouldn't surprise me if there have been contacts and discussions between Nokia and Jolla for a few years by now about possible future partnerships but that such a revelation is done when there are new "Nokia" devices in the market.

would it even be necessary to fork sailfish for making a “proper ” appstore available?
If e.g. openrepos or any other third party store was equipped with payment options, that would almost work just as well, wouldn't it?
As long as no explicit measures are taken by Jolla to prevent that...

I think a fork similar to CyanogenMod is necessary in this case since a couple of things must happen:

1. Commercial apps in a proper app store.
2. Availability of powerful SF devices and this mean ROMs for a selection of popular models.

It seems like Jolla is able to give Android apps and Snapdragon 212 with 720p display and they doesn't give any indication of something different. So I guess it takes a team or company to build their own fork in order for proper development to happen.

Some people are trying to defend the Jolla C with arguments about the performance of SF - key issue is that a Snapdragon 212... doesn't compare to the 652 or 820 regardless of OS. A device with SF and truly powerful hardware paired with sophisticated graphics demos and perhaps some games that can showcase the power of the platform is needed in order to start building success.

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